Well, they don’t think they’re even “radio” stations anymore - they call themselves “audio content” stations (ARN definitely pushed in that direction when they emptied the acronym), and knowing whatever audience would likely clamour for this probably aren’t listening on the 96.1fm frequency anymore.
So I can understand the rebranding in a sense, especially if they are trying to get away from the focus on the “96.1” branding and want an umbrella “national” brand, including podcasts presumably, that they can shove somewhere in iHeartRadio.
Of course, that intersecting with whatever requirements there are left for “localism” in what’s been allowed to be a pseudo-city licence (regardless of the licence area being Katoomba) is interesting. Possibly why ACMA is more focused on ensuring localism in the community licences simply because they know the game was lost ages ago in the cities.
But when you’re not a “radio” company anymore - and the same applies to SCA with how hard they’re pushing Listnr - is “local” even worth chasing as a business? Hmm.
As for Cada itself, from what I’ve read in this thread, it appears that ARN still doesn’t really have the confidence that a full blown urban station (even with a proper brand) will work here, and particularly when Triple J still plays quite a bit of it. If they stick to what they say about providing local urban artists a platform, great. But maybe ARN won’t care as long as they can get people to stick within the iHeart walls, even if they don’t stick to Cada itself for too long.
I was having a look at the history of Cada and The Edge on Wikipedia. It seems that this isn’t the first time they have relaunched themselves as an Urban or Hip Hop/RnB station. I don’t know how accurate the info on Wikipedia is but they do have quotes from those times to back it up.
In 2006:
In January 2006, ARN decided to launch the first pure urban format radio station in the country, on The Edge. The format change was due to the overwhelming response to the nightly urban count down, “K-Sera & The Dirty Dozen”, with K-Sera and Kris Fade that culminated in being awarded Best Radio Show Australia and New Zealand at the 2006 Urban Music Awards.
The Edge evolved into a more contemporary hits format with an urban influence,
In 2013:
In August 2013, The Edge rebranded and presented their new music position. “The Edge is unique in Australian radio as it is the only commercial station running an Urban format. ‘Hits that move you’ expresses our musical edge and better allows urban music fans to find us.” The changes followed an online poll where listeners were asked to choose a format. They wanted a hybrid of urban, pop, dance and R’n’B.
So, it seems like they have continuously tried to launch an exclusively Urban, Hip Hop and RnB radio station over the last two decades but listeners keep rejecting it and they keep readjusting to include Pop and Dance.
Even with this latest Cada relaunch, the problem continues to be that listeners don’t seem to want an exclusive Hip Hop/RnB station in Australia. They say they are Australia’s home of Hip Hop and RnB but the playlist betrays them with the Pop and Dance still in the mix but also including Throwbacks and Old School.
The problem also is the new dj’s, they are not resonating with the audience. The audience think they are fake, with them putting on fake American / hood accent’s.
The audience loved Mike E & Emma, now they are gone, and the new shows are not up to scratch, they are complaining and leaving. Mike E & Emma leaving was The Edge / Cada’s 2day fm moment.
I’ve sound some old Radioinfo articles reading up to the 2006 change.
There was speculation at that time that The Edge may be targeting an older audience with a format similar to the then launched Cruise 1323 in Adelaide. This would’ve caused plenty of headaches for the then-new commercial FM station, Vega (now Smooth).
@TV-Expert’s finds from RadioInfo suggests that I may have misspoken about calling them “urban”, as it suggests that they ended up on a format (from the start) that was more likely better described as “rhythmic” contemporary, which can apparently include upbeat pop and EDM on top of strictly “urban” tracks. That certainly fits what people had been saying about the format.
But this is I guess the problem - that original branding of just “Hip Hop and R&B” in 2006, and their future claims to being “the home of” such things probably betrayed and typecast them as you say, and it shows that even 15 years on that I think of them as strictly that, whereas they probably have never strayed far from the “rhythmic” formula that much in reality (albeit in varying quantities) - and Cada definitely seems to be much of the same. (And that’s… totally fine? In fact that probably makes the “cadence”-inspired name more fitting, not less.)
On the flipside, can you be a lighthouse for music that’s deep in the “urban” category (as much as Australian hip-hop/rap struggles to really get into that category anyway?***) when you are seen as a poser 50% of the time?
That’s kinda the issue with 96.1 ever since they tried this - and it certainly offered a little more variety in Sydney, but I can’t see it being exactly a big format hole if it went back to their “new music only” period of the 90s/early 2000s, say.
In hindsight, the “Hits That Move You” slogan was probably the most appropriate of the lot for that era of The Edge; probably most encapsulated the playlist best - but by then, the damage was well and truly done. (And what the heck were they doing with “Live Sexy” anyway? )
*** And I guess this is part of the problem too - like in the US, “urban” tends to be a catch-all at times for “African-American music”, including older soul music as well as well as hip-hop/R&B and the like. Makes it hard to categorise, not just Australian artists in that, but even rappers like Eminem in that. They could certainly fiddle with it and end up with their own unique format - but if they had to pick a format “off the shelf”, they’d have to go the wider rhythmic playlist rather than full American-style “urban” I suspect.
Yeah I agree with this , in this world. Community radio is now local radio. Commercial radio just like to be “audio content stations”.
It appear no more, just follow the rules to do the minimum.
Perhaps 2GB is the only real or the closest to the most “local” commercial station in Sydney (not saying I listen), Given I think 2GB has the most live shows in Sydney out of all the stations. All commercial radio do local traffic (so at least that is one thing). 2SM had the most local commercial breakfast show in Sydney for a while with @Marcus_Paul especially when Alan Jones went into Brisbane as well as Sydney. I might be wrong as I have not sample every station for a while to hear if they are very “Sydney centric” speaking about what is happening around the city.
What is local is also subjective. I see SWR FM breakfast show as very local, interviewing local people, what is happening locally ? Some bloke rings in with traffic snarl he goes to air with it.
Anyway back on topic, CADA doesn’t seem like a local station, it is just an audio content station . If you want local community radio is the best choice.
No, they made up a word and said it was related to “cadence”.
“What we love about the name CADA is that it brings to mind cadence – the tempo of music and speech – which is perfect for a brand which champions Hip Hop and R&B artists both locally and around the globe.”
This is so 2022. Haha is it just me but we only heard these sorts of phases from maybe politicians in the olden days (like mind cadence) now it is everywhere in the corporate world.
Remember the TV show Yes Minister use to send up or make fun with the politicians with the way they spoke. We need another show like that.
ARN chose to change the name to Cada because they wanted to be on DAB+ in Hobart, where there is already a station called Edge (a community radio station) and they did not want another challenge from another station over a name similarity (like KIIS v Kiss FM in Melbourne).
Yep I can report first hand that “cadence” is the latest corporate buzz word over the last 2 years. I can’t believe how many times I’ve had to force myself to stop my eyes rolling when some wanker starts to talk about getting into a cadence of regular meetings…
That’s possibly why they chose to change the name, but not why they actually picked that name. It’s still stupid. I would argue given how tiny the market is in Hobart comparatively it’s not worth losing The Edge brand over.
They might be playing the long game. In a few decades’ time, Hobart could be one of Australia’s biggest cities…due to everyone from the mainland fleeing the litany of climate change fuelled disasters.
The Edge (from U2) holds a bunch of copyright/trademark on the use the the name ‘The Edge’
The Edge 96.1 is a-ok but if they what to start something ’ The Edge Music’ or ‘The Edge Entertainment’, especially online targeting an international audience they are going to be shit out of luck.
Bring back 2KA or make it KA - FM Your local Blue Mountains alternative playing the best in Hip Hop/R&B. . Then you can brand the iheartradio station as what they did in the Gold Coast. Like Hot Tomato Gold, they can make it Hot Tomato R&B & Hip Hop. They may have lost the rights to use the term 2KA as wasn’t there a narrowcast station using it?
While I really appreciate the efforts the (brilliant) CADA team are putting in to this content, this really isn’t the way to engage with young audiences in 2022 IMO.
They are essentially educating young people about trends they are already well aware of, so much so because their audience are the ones who started and maintain these trends.
The production format is also very 2015, which would work great on linear fta tv, but will not engage on platforms like TikTok and Instagram where content needs to be time compressed, vertically cropped and ‘motioned’ to the max.
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. If you want local community radio is the best choice.